


Forever Free

by Cody_Thomas



Series: Bits, Bobs, and Bunnies [4]
Category: Firefly, Forever (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant only through the shows, Canon-Typical Violence, Firefly world, Forever Characters, Gen, In both of these fandoms actually, My First Work in This Fandom, Resurrection, Serenity (movie) Never Happens, non-permanent death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-05
Updated: 2018-03-05
Packaged: 2019-03-27 08:04:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13876668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cody_Thomas/pseuds/Cody_Thomas
Summary: The crew of the Serenity are about to be given a job offer that is going to change all of their lives forever, and maybe even help to take down The Alliance in the process.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So this was an idea I had when I realized it was canonically possible for both Adam and Henry to live into the Firefly timeline. Adam was already 2,000 years old at the end of the series, so really, what's another 500 years for the two of them? Was planning on some interesting hijinks with Doctor Morgan knowing a few of our crew.

Here’s the deal, Earth got used up, so we left, found a whole new solar system, terraformed it close as we could get to Earth-That-Was, and started over. Some planets are rich in resources and take advantage of the new technologies, others, not so much. Alliance decided that everyone had to come together to live under their rule, some foolish people disagreed with that notion and fought against them, myself included. Now we do what we can to get by. Serenity is a transport ship, Firefly class. We got a good crew, fighters, pilot, mechanic, doctor and his sister who are hiding from the feds, even have a preacher and a bonafide companion. Keep working, keep flying. If you’ve got a job, we can do it, don’t much care what it is.

  
..

..

 

Serenity touched down on Persephone at precisely 11:42 am on a Tuesday. Captain Malcom Reynolds had no idea that it was going to be the last normal minute of his life. 

 

The doors opened and the hatch lowered, Wash planning on taking Zoe, Jayne, and Kaylee into the market on the four wheeler for supplies, Inara had already disengaged once they broke atmo, River and Simon were squirreled away on the ship with the Shepherd protecting them. 

 

Mal hadn’t even gotten down the first step of the ramp before someone else was starting up it. 

 

“‘Allo ‘allo, why if it isn’t Captain Reynolds and his ever punctual crew. I was expecting you five minutes ago.” Said the oily little man in the bowler hat.

 

“Badger, I thought I had made it abundantly clear to you on more than one occasion that you ain’t welcome on my boat. So why is it that I am encountering your presence when Serenity has barely touched the ground and my boots ain’t even done so yet?” Mal asked with his usual level of glib and snarky sarcasm. 

 

“Oh you’re gonna want me to be on your ship Mal. In fact, you’re gonna invite me in for tea, serve them little finger sandwiches, put out the nice china and all. I’m going to be your new best friend.”

 

“I don’t think there’s a power in the ‘verse that could make that happen Badger. Not only don't I care for your companionship, but we’ve been out of bread for going on a month now, and all our plates are wood or metal. So what is so desperately important that we couldn’t meet at your office? Especially since during our last deal, you nearly shot me, and you know that’s something I take a powerful disliking to?”

 

“Nearly, but I didn’t. It was just business, I ‘ad to make it convincing. Let’s let bygones be bygones, eh? Besides, you’re gonna wanna ‘ear this one. Got a new client with a tricky job, and e’s a very discerning type. Wants to meet ‘em in person before e’ll even say what it is, judge their character on getting it done and such. E’s demanding it be done by the best I know, wants to deal with that person direct. I usually charge a hundred silver for dropping a name someone can use for a job. ‘E gave me a thousand credits to arrange it before I even named a price. So, you still want to tell me to piss off back to my office, or you wanna invite us in where I know it’s not bugged?”

 

Mal was not in a pleased mood about letting Badger and some stranger anywhere on the same ship as River and Simon, but big deals didn’t come along too often, and Badger was looking a mite jumpy being out in the elements. Sunlight always did make roaches scatter.

 

“Fine. But your goons, and your guns stay off my boat. Wash, Kaylee, you go on ahead and get us our supplies, seems like we might not be staying on leave as long as we thought we would. Zoe, Jayne, seems like we have us a meeting.”

 

“Yes Sir, seems we do.” Zoe said with her usual dry humor. 

 

Jayne just looked disappointed that he hadn’t gotten to get off the ship. “Whatever you say cap’n.”

 

This all important and unusually wealthy possible client that showed up two minutes later didn’t look like much at first. Of an averaging height, with short brown hair, a sharp and serious but intelligent face, but it was his eyes… Mal had never seen eyes so cold. They made the void of space seem down right cozy warm as he eyed the ship critically in a way Mal didn’t like, so he stuck out his hand with a smile.

 

“I’m Captain Malcom Reynolds. It’s my understanding that you might have a job for us?” The feeling of having extended his hand towards a viper was most unsettling, but he also didn’t flinch or pull back, nor lose eye contact as the man slowly took his hand.

 

“You can call me Adam. I’m afraid I don’t hold with fancy titles for myself, too conspicuous for my taste. And I might have work for you if I determine that you are the right person for the job.” He turned towards Badger and tossed him a small pouch of coins. “Why don’t you run along and get the good captain, his crew, and I some refreshments? A proper multi course lunch, real tea, the best bottle of whiskey you can manage to find around here, and five dozen of those sugar doughnuts from that stall we passed on our way here, while I suss out just who is first on your list of ‘most reliable and competent captains’? I think it’s just the thing, don’t you?”

 

The fact Badger didn’t even try and argue, just nodded, ‘yes sirred’ and left without a protest, is what truly set Mal on edge. Badger didn’t usually take kindly to being ordered around by anyone, least of all a rich toff. The moment that Badger was gone, two of his lackeys positioned themselves near the hatch, while the other two left with him, Adam turned towards Mal again. “Shall we find some place to sit and discuss business properly?”

 

Mal didn’t like letting an unknown stranger this deep into Serenity, especially with River and Simon on board, but sitting around in the cargo hold didn’t seem right either, so they took to the common area. Adam didn’t seem to be at all disturbed about being flanked by two mercenaries with guns, nor about being led into wherever the captain wanted to sit. There was at least Kaylee’s home brewed wine to drink while they waited for Badger to come back.

 

“So, how may we help you, Mister Adam?” Mal asked, setting the bottle on the table and passing their guest a cup. He sat across from him, Jayne to his left, while Zoe closed the other doors and leaned against the doorway between the commissary and the path to the cargo hold, only closing it three quarters of the way and acting as both guard and a lookout for River in case she went wandering.

 

“I have a series of questions for you Captain Reynolds. You will answer them, honestly and in whole to my satisfaction, and if you do, I will give you a job that should you manage to succeed in it, it will set you and your crew up quite comfortably for life. Do we have an understanding?”

 

“I believe we do.”

 

“Good. Now, first question, and remember, you must be completely honest with me, and know that I will know if you are lying. How many people are on your crew in total Captain Reynolds?”

 

Mal was desperately tempted to say six or seven, including himself, but the churning gut instinct flashing all of them danger signs at him was warning him that that would be a most foolish thing to do.

 

“There’s nine permanent people who live on this ship. Six of them, including myself, get paid to do so. Of the remaining three, one’s a Companion who rents a shuttle, and I take her world to world where she conducts her own business, one’s a Shepherd that got to liking our company and stayed on permanent like, and the other is family to another crew member, and needs looking after. So I’m not really sure how you want that question answered.”

 

“Nine was the correct answer Captain Reynolds. This job is extremely difficult and very dangerous, the most difficult and dangerous job you will probably ever be offered in your lifetime, and the  **_last_ ** job to be offered to you in your lifetime should you fail. I therefore have to make sure that my offering price is well worth that risk towards your entire crew, don’t I?”

 

“I suppose you do. What’s your next question?”

 

“How do you feel about the Alliance? You’re obviously not extremely loyal since you’re willing to skirt the law for a living, but would you be willing to work in direct opposition to them? Not for something minor like smuggling, I’m talking full on treason, the kind that never sees a courthouse should you be caught.”

 

“I have no problem with that. Me and the Alliance ain’t never been friendly. Fact the chance to go against them sounds quite appealing. The only ones who might not be alright with it probably wouldn’t even be going along anyway, since they stay out of that end of our business, and they’d never feel the need to rat us out, seeing as they wouldn’t know where we was going or what we was doing anyhow.”

 

“So even if the Alliance offered you wealth beyond measure, the secrets to immortality, and the promise of your heart’s desire if you just let them keep what I’d be asking you to steal, you wouldn’t be tempted?”

 

“One thing I’ve learned is that you can’t trust the feds to ever make good on their word. I also don’t back out on a deal once it’s been made unless I’m double crossed. Besides, don’t think immortality would be all it’s cracked up to be, means I’d be running out of reach of the Alliance for eternity instead of just the next forty or fifty years, and that sounds more than exhausting. It’s how you do your living in the now that people remember, not how long you lived for.”

 

Adam smiled, it was not very reassuring. “That was a good answer Captain. Tell me, do you trust your crew? All of them, to a man, to not betray you or sell you or the rest of you out?”

 

“Yes. Jayne’s only one whose head can be swayed by money sometimes, but I trust him with my life. He’s loyal to me, doesn’t back out on a deal, and long as you keep up your end, he won’t go getting stupid and we won’t have any sort of problems. I can promise you that.”

 

Adam turned to Jayne with a critical eye. “I don’t like weak links in plans, but I understand every man’s need to feel secure that they are making the right decision for themselves, and just how overwhelming that desperate scrambling instinct to stay alive can be. What’s your price?”

 

Jayne’s jaw went stiff he clenched his teeth so hard. “I ain’t got no price, I ain’t no gorram slave! You make a deal with the captain, captain gives me a cut once the job’s done. That’s how it works. So you best get back to talking to him before I start feeling unfriendly like.”

 

“Every man has a price, some higher than others. What’s yours? What is the price it takes to make sure that no matter how bad it gets, no matter what anyone else may offer, you will see this job through to the end or die trying?” Adam asked with a very intense stare after folding his hands on the table.

 

Jayne looked half scared, thinking was never his strong suit. Adam’s eyes roved over Jayne, settling on a little piece of yarn peeking out of his vest pocket. “A loved one, perhaps, one not so well off as you’re doing for yourself? What is it you really want? Security, lands, money, a house? Name it. Anything you want. I give it to you, you don’t back out under any circumstances even if it means you die.”

 

It took Jayne a good long minute of thinking, the air was more than a bit tense.

 

“A big new house for my mama, on a good patch, at least two hundred acres of something fertile, with all the fixins, animals, farm hands, tools, seed, and the like. And if I die doing this gorram job of yours, she gets my share of it in whole regardless.”

 

“That’s more than doable. Done. You stay loyal, your mother is taken care of in the lap of farmhouse luxury for the rest of her life.” Jayne was less hesitant to shake the man’s hand than Mal had been, but Jayne could never be accused of having much sense.

 

Adam turned back to the captain. “Now that that little snag has been handled, how do you and your crew feel about killing people Captain?” 

 

“I ain’t saying my hands are clean, but we tend to only shoot at people who are trying to shoot at us. All of us have handled a gun on more than one occasion, most of us have killed. Think it’s only the youngest who haven’t killed at least one man.”

 

Adam sipped his mug of wine and sat back. “For this job to work, you might have to do the less honorable sort of killing. Unarmed people, non combatants, in the back, in order to keep them from raising the alarm or in order to complete your mission. Though your conscious shouldn’t feel too guilty about it. They are all guilty of genocide. Murdering hundreds of thousands of innocents, intentionally, knowingly, with nothing so kind and quick as a gun. It takes some of their victims years or even decades to die, and those are the lucky ones. It’s the survivors you should truly pity.”

 

“I can’t say as I’m happy with that, but I can see the necessity of it. I don’t generally like people who hurt others just for the fun of it.”

 

“No, I don’t suppose you do, not with your history. How good are you at keeping secrets Captain? In the course of this mission you will learn one of the biggest secrets of this universe, something that you can’t even fathom. And I have to be completely certain that you can keep it.”

 

“Secrets are fine, everyone has ‘em, figure they have em for a reason. We won’t pry.”

 

“That’s very rare captain, and impossible once you learn what exactly the secret is I’m afraid. Can you keep what you will learn a secret, and not spread it around to anyone?”

 

“We can. We’re more the surviving sort, because we ain’t the curious sort.”

 

“That’s a very good philosophy. One final question Captain Reynolds. How are Doctor Tam and his sister doing?”

 

Mal’s jaw clenched shut, Jayne went surly, and Zoe’s hand sat firm on her gun though she didn’t draw or take aim. The silence lingered. He wasn’t gonna lie, but that didn’t mean he was going to answer either. Adam just smiled again.

 

“Come come now Captain, there’s no need to be silent on the matter. This one isn’t a secret, or a threat. It’s an honest inquiry seeing as it was my people who got her out of that hellhole and onto this very dock in the first place. Of course I saw what ship they boarded. And after the hit on Ariel, well, it wasn’t hard to put two and two together. I’m just curious how she’s faring being away from all the torture and the people messing with her mind.”

 

“She’s doing fine, last I heard.” Mal grit out with a very fake smile. He was disliking this guy more by the minute.

 

“That’s very good to hear Captain. Because something very similar to her getting out of that lab is the job this time. Only the stakes are far higher, the security is ten times tighter, and they will be shooting to kill should they find you even in the same airspace as the facility at the wrong time. What I am asking you to steal from them is the most precious and heavily guarded thing the Alliance has ever discovered, it is the reason the branch performing scientific experimentation on humans was created, it’s the reason the Unification War was fought, and why there even IS an Alliance to begin with. They discovered this secret shortly after the central planets were terraformed, they then lost it, fought a war trying to reclaim it, caught a part of it again about a year ago, and have been trying to figure it out ever since. Should you fail, you and possibly your entire families would be wiped out of existence. However, if you accept the job, I will provide anything needed to make sure it goes as smoothly as possible, a complete updated overhaul for your ship, the finest weapons, false identities, schematics, door passes, even new lives should you want to disappear afterwards. I don’t care what it takes, I want the job done. If you take the job and then betray me, there is nowhere you would be able to run or hide from me. I have nothing but time and money on my hands and would make it my life’s mission to end you. However, should you succeed, I will pay you ten million credits, or twenty-five million platinum, unless you insist on hard coin.”

 

Mal’s jaw had dropped just a bit, Zoe had a look of extreme surprise on her face, and Jayne looked like he was trying to add up what that meant his share would be.

 

“Twenty-five million platinum? Did-did I just hear that right?” Mal asked like he couldn’t even comprehend the number.

 

Adam nodded. “Each. I don’t want anybody on this job who doesn’t want to be there, or thinks the risk isn’t worth it. So I will pay you each individually, no cuts or shares. Any repairs or retrofitting of the ship, any weapons, anything else to get the job done is not included in that. That’s me trying to make sure the job goes smoothly. I don’t like loose ends. I don’t require an answer now, I will give you time to think it over and discuss it with your crew. If, and only if you decide to accept it, will I give you any greater details on it. I think you are the kind of crew I’m looking for, Especially with how you have already helped out the Tam’s. But if you don’t agree, there’s no reason for me to share more than I need to.”

 

At that moment the sound of the cargo bay door opening rang through the ship.

 

“Ah, that should be Badger back with our lunch.”

 

Badger was indeed back with the food and drinks, a veritable feast of real food, enough for at least twelve people, instead of just the five of them. He was so loaded down in fact his two goons had to help him carry it in and set it up. Mal was still uncomfortable with this Adam, and he never thought in a thousand years he’d share a meal with Badger. Mal knew it wasn’t poisoned because Adam was eating as at ease as if he were in his own kitchen at home. Jayne seemed unconcerned about the tension in the room, Zoe wasn’t as relaxed as she appeared, but took a small plate over to her watch point to be polite. The small talk was rather stilted, but there was enough just of public news and gossip to carry them through. After a single shot of whiskey for each of them, Adam shook all of their hands and thanked them for considering his proposal, and then he and Badger got up to leave.

 

“Oh, Captain Reynolds, I nearly forgot.” Adam took a briefcase from one of the thugs near the door. “I was doing the books on my latest company acquisition and noticed a few discrepancies. After an extremely deep and thorough investigation of the accounts and transactions, it seems that my company owes you some money. I do hope this is all of it. Please let me know if it doesn’t correspond with your own records.” Adam set the very familiar looking briefcase in Mal’s hands, put on his hat with a respectful touch, and left. 

 

Zoe followed them out and shut the cargo bay door behind them, before returning to the commissary.

 

Mal, Zoe, and Jayne then sat amidst the remnants of the feast, more than enough for a second meal for everyone on the crew. Inside the briefcase was all of the money they had paid to Niska to try and retrieve their people, it also had an ear, preserved in a jar, and there didn’t seem to be any question that it was Niska’s. Adam had taken over Niska’s operation then, and it looked like he was just as sadistic, but in a different way. Adam was somehow a thousand times scarier.

 

“I don’t like it Sir, he’s got Badger licking his boots, and that doesn’t tend to bode well when it comes to working for rich folk.” Zoe said, pouring herself another shot. “Anyone willing to lay down that much money for a job means there is a high risk of dying, which I am not much a fan of.”

 

“Well I say we do it, doubt we could do a thousand big jobs that would set us up even half so well, and if Badger hears we turned it down, he won’t be so quick to give us the big jobs anymore. We were the first ones on his list to that guy. Doubt he’d be feeling mighty charitable if we make him look stupid or get that guy angry with him.” Jayne said.

 

Mal shook his head. “I hate to say it, but Jayne has a bit of a point. We have a solid reputation these days, and I would hate to sully it, but I also have this unwavering desire to stay alive. That man disturbs me on many levels, Niska didn’t send a chill up my back half as hard as he just did. I don’t think he’d turn on us or go back on his word or the money, in fact I think even thinking such a thing would insult him. He gave us back the money to prove he’s honorable, or about as close to it as folk like him get. But he would very much expect us to either do the job or literally die trying, and while dying tends to be a possibility on most of our jobs, I’m not entirely sure I like it being one of our only options. ‘Sides, this is something to talk about with the whole crew. We’ll have a meeting about it once everyone comes back. For now, shore leave if you are still wanting it.”

 

Down in the passenger’s dorms, River was rocking back and forth sobbing. “Pieces, millions of jagged pieces, stabbing death all over, pieces of gods, they put him in me and they took him out. Cowards die a million times, but what does it mean when you can’t?”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The crew have a job to do, and for once, everything goes smooth. Their cargo ends up to be a bit unexpected though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I seriously love this story more than is probably healthy for me.

All in all it took the crew a week of careful deliberation and planning to agree on accepting the job. When they told Adam of their decision, they learned that the job would take nearly a year of surveillance beforehand, in order to figure out exactly where the target was and the best way to reach it. It was also to establish their presence and false identities, and it occurred to them just how in depth this cover would be. 

 

Adam had them come to his own personal dwarf planet called Eden to do the retrofitting and disguising of Serenity on. He had an entire crew waiting for Kaylee’s order on anything that could even possibly need upgraded or replacing, with the instructions that they were to listen to Kaylee’s orders at all times. While Kaylee was nearly squealing for joy at all the shiny new things, a secondary crew got to work on the outside, having it polished up and painted and made it ‘official’ with tags. 

 

It was the cargo bay that saw the most changes though, not just a buff and polish. LED lighting strips that cycled intensity to simulate day and night were placed everywhere, and also installed top of the line, advanced aquaponics, hydroponics, and aeroponics systems and a self sustaining environmental recycling system. Adam turned the entire cargo bay of Serenity into a lush, mobile, vertical farm, without losing them any but a three foot section of the floor space around the perimeter of the cargo bay for things that needed an actual plot of land to grow, and even that was apparently built with logs which were going to grow edible mushrooms. 

 

Every guard rail except the top handrails were set up for growing tall crops like corn, barley, oats, rye, spelt, wheat, flax, rice, and hemp. Along the walls was where they planted vegetables, leafy greens, about four dozen varieties of beans, and soybeans. The meter deep raised planter beds on the cargo bay floor were for peanuts, potatoes, corn, varying squashes, gourds, and nearly all of their root vegetables. The undersides of each staircase and catwalk were woven with ropes to hang hundreds of baskets of herbs, spices, tomatoes, cucumbers, strawberries, and edible flowers from, and the corners of the catwalks were lined with shelves that held miniature fruit trees and berry bushes securely in pots. They had over three hundred varieties of foodstuffs before they even got to the healing herbs and medicinal plants, including aloe, white willow, and poppy. And they even set up an area for a chicken coop with twenty hens, a large worm bin, and two goats. The inside of Serenity had been transformed into a true garden of life and bounty.

 

Mal was stunned when he saw just how much was packed into his ship without hardly taking up any real room at all. He was definitely wide eyed at all of the greenery everywhere, and Adam smirked. 

 

“This is standard fitting for all of my ships. I find that it costs far less money for the crew to grow most of their own food instead of restocking at every port. Meat tends to be the only thing left to buy, and some keep their own livestock on board for the purpose. 

 

I have come to learn that protein rations are no substitute for the real thing. Humans need real, living food in order to thrive, and this is a way to provide it. After doing their deliveries and making sure their own stores are filled, my crews are allowed to sell off any of the excess food they have grown for their own profit if they wish to, for the prices that they choose. You and your entire crew will receive extensive training on how to maintain these systems, the plants, the animals, as well as every method of long term food preservation. It is knowledge that comes in very handy on the border planets. You could even recreate these systems and teach it to them if you are so inclined. It is knowledge which was nearly lost to us and will give them quite the step up. 

 

With basic maintenance, this system will more than feed your people, and provide a legitimate reason for you to be seen in the area. This world grows and supplies all of the fresh produce to the Alliance’s patrol stations. So you are going to start making a regular run on one of my supply lines. You’ll essentially be working for me legitimately while you gather information about the inside structures. With every delivery you will plant motorized surveillance bugs, which can discreetly investigate the levels you can’t get into, and keep you free of suspicion. The more you are seen there, the less they will suspect you.”

 

So for ten months they were a farm ship, delivering huge crates of food to many of the outposts, walking deliveries straight in the front door under guard, and then being escorted straight back out again. Each of them dropping a few bugs near a vent, down a drain, or into a corner so it could make its way to where it needed to go. The info they were collecting was everything from ship layout to major systems. After the six month mark, Adam had discovered which ship the target was in, and gave them little remote controlled explosive devices to slip into that particular outpost. They were like thousands of tiny ceramic ball bearings, similar to bird shot. They carried them straight in the front door in dozens of pots of fresh herbs for the hydroponics bay that Adam’s company was helping the outpost set up, disguised as soil free substrate, and actually mixed in with the real stuff. Finally, there was a fine nanite tracking powder they were to get into as many grates, drains, and vents as possible. This they managed to deliver through thin tubing lining their trousers that ended at their ankles. Air intake valves weren’t even hard to stand by and just let the dust get sucked into them without doing anything remotely suspicious. 

 

Zoe was the one who managed to get it into the water supply like Adam had wanted, while she set up the hydroponics bay, they led her to the water supply to adjust the pressure and test the water, she was able to dump an entire package of the powder into the main tank disguised as a chemical and mineral treatment. Mal flushed a handful down the toilet, and a few more down a sink. The water had been the most important system to Adam, so they did their best to accommodate. 

 

Finally they were called back to Eden three months after they had been instructed to fill the area between their ship’s cargo bay and the door with all of the remaining bird shot looking explosives and let them get sucked out  the airlock as they took off. They were apparently attracted to their counterparts because they tracked them settling over the outpost like a net, some of them in large groups over where they had mapped critical systems.

 

“In a few weeks, the main part of the heist will be completed, but to avoid any suspicion towards you or myself, you will continue to work the route another three months afterwards, after that your ship will ‘be assigned to a new route’, you will all receive your payment, and our business will be completed. Those who will not be participating in the main part of the plan should be put wherever they are going. In the meantime we are going to outfit your ship with a cloaking device that will also mask heat signatures when activated, and two personal cloaks to sneak you into the ship, which you will do by accessing the electronics hatch here. Once inside, you will make your way to this lab. 

 

Before entering you must activate the explosives on the water reservoir, and press this button to cause a hull breach right outside of it. Do not even THINK of going into that lab until the water has been jettisoned into space. The plan will fail utterly if it isn’t done. Once the water is gone some will be trying to fix it, but those in the know will rush straight to that lab. Your ship must be positioned as close to that room as you can get. Go into the lab, smash any tanks of water you find, and place this data stick into the computer in there. There will be a man in that room, who in theory, should look something like this.“ He said, handing Mal a photograph. “No matter what his condition, no matter what he says, or how he begs you, kill him, as fast as you can. Shoot him, break his neck, slit his throat, choke him, it doesn’t matter how you prefer to do it as long as it is done. You’ll know you have the right man if you see something impossible after that. If that happens, confirm the water tank on your ship is heavier. Don’t question it, your work is done and you are to get off of that outpost as fast as you can and come straight back here. Do you understand?” 

 

Mal was more than a little nervous about this plan, but they had already agreed long ago to do this job, and it was coming up on payday.

 

“I understand.” Mal agreed and nodded, though he wasn’t fully comfortable. He had known this job would likely leave a bad taste in his mouth from the get go, but at the same time, being set for life had its perks, and he had to believe that it was worth it.

 

Inara they dropped off on Persephone, while Book and River were going to hide out on one of the border moons when the time came. One of the monasteries had granted Book a small church there outside of a newly formed community to use for his mission, and they would hide River there until the job was done, because everyone agreed keeping her as far away from the Alliance as possible was what was best for everyone.

 

Mal and Jayne were the ones who were going to go into the lab, because breaking things and killing people didn’t require much in the way of style. Zoe stayed suited up and made sure their escape route stayed clear. Kaylee and Simon would be guarding the huge tank of water that Adam had installed in the cargo bay on top of a digital scale which read exactly eight thousand kilograms. 

 

They knew better than to ask questions at this point. Their employer was not only bat shit crazy, but had taken over Niska’s entire operation since the sadistic prick had just mysteriously vanished, and Adam was just as cruel if not worse when crossed. They didn’t want to know what would happen should they cross him now.

 

Wash was ecstatic with the cloaking shield, and Kaylee immediately had her jaw drop and declared “That is SO shiny” The first time they tested it out on Eden. You couldn’t see or sense Serenity at all with any kind of sensor. It was disconcerting to touch something you couldn’t see in broad daylight, but ‘Shiny’ was definitely the consensus. 

 

For once, having been provided with so much ground work, a solid plan, and the right tools, Mal actually had a job go smooth for once. The seal they used over the hatch to sneak in so the ship wouldn’t depressurize worked perfectly. The personal cloaks kept them hidden, the job was being done in the middle of the night when ninety percent of the crew was asleep, so the halls were empty or easy to avoid others in. They didn’t raise a single eyebrow getting in. The labs took them a bit by surprise though, there were hundreds of them, all of them filled with people, some of them kids, but much as he wanted to help out a few more, that wasn’t his mission, and not why he was there. Finding the right one took some doing, but when they did, Mal gave the order to jettison the station’s water supply. Sure enough the explosion rocked the whole complex and alarms flared to life, they busted in in the chaos, and what they found was stomach turning. The man was laying on the table vivisected while awake and still breathing, but, he wasn’t the only one. A dozen more identical men were suspended in water filled tanks around the room. Jayne wasted no time, he opened fire on all of the tanks, their sides collapsing like wet paper and their contents spilling all over the floor.

 

“Which one’s him?! Damnit Mal!” Jayne wasn’t taking any chances on his big payday, he shot all of them while Mal jammed the data stick into the computer and activated the virus, then began sniping the scientists heading towards the door. The man open on the table couldn’t even protest as Jayne pressed the hot barrel of the gun against his head and blew his brains out. The guy’s tongue had been cut out, they wouldn’t have been able to understand him anyway. “Nothing personal.” Jayne said, and then couldn’t say anything else, because both of them saw the man on the table, and all of his clones, disappear. They just vanished right in front of them. 

 

“Mal? MAL?!” Jayne was about two seconds away from freaking out entirely.

 

“That’s the signal. Kaylee, that tank any heavier?!” 

 

“Y-yes cap’n but uh you’re not gonna believe why…”

 

“It don’t matter why, time to get us out of here. Zoe, how’s that exit looking?”

 

“All clear Sir. but you got about thirty really angry and armed people who might be looking to argue that point with you headed your way.” 

 

“Let’s go then. Jayne, come on, let's move out.” Their exit was a bit less graceful than their entrance had been, but they managed their escape successfully and no one followed them, since they still couldn’t be seen, then it was just a matter of being picked up by Serenity and getting the hell out. The micro net of explosions around the compound did incredible damage to the main systems, leaving them only basic life support and reserve power. Nothing else worked, no communications, no cortex, they couldn’t even open the doors or signal for help. It would be two days before the next supply ship would come for a delivery, and it wasn’t Mal’s ship. Serenity meanwhile made a beeline straight to Eden as ordered. 

 

When Mal and Jayne were back on the ship, he was shocked to find that same man who had been lying open on the table and floating in the tanks, was now standing wet and naked in his cargo hold, hale and sound without a mark on him save for an old bullet wound over the left side of his chest. Simon was checking him over, the stranger looking only mild embarrassed if anything.

 

Mal was definitely in shock. “Huh.” He said blinking, because really, his mind needed a few minutes to catch up on this one.

 

Jayne’s jaw had dropped. “Mal… Mal, didn’t I just shoot him and twelve more just like him?”

 

“It’s, well it’s a long story.” The no longer shot man said awkwardly, his clones nowhere in sight.

 

“I’m sure it is, but we promised not to be asking any questions when we took this job, and I ain’t keen on making our employer think I ain’t keeping to the letter of our agreement. He ain’t exactly the kind you go and cross.”

 

“I see. Might your employer’s name be ‘Adam’ perchance? This rescue has his typical style all over it.”

 

“It is, and if you know him, then you know it likely ain’t healthful to break your word once you give it to him.”

 

“It most definitely isn’t. We’ll be headed to Eden then I suppose. I wonder how much more of the system he’s taken over since I’ve been captured. Megalomania at least seems to have replaced his desire for murder as of late. I’m still not sure if that is a good thing or not.”

 

“He was willing to pay us near enough to buy a border moon to get you out of there. I don’t know the details of what all is going on, and I don’t want to. Our job was to extract and deliver. We’ve extracted, and now we deliver. The rest you need to work out with him.”

 

Their newest passenger/guest smiled at him. “Not to worry Captain, Adam has no intention of harming me, I assure you. Rather pointless these days.”

 

“Wonderful. Simon, you take him to the infirmary and make sure he’s okay. Kaylee, I want you to help Wash put as much distance between us and that outpost as you can. The faster we reach our drop point, sooner I can stop thinking about the things I just saw and never wanted to. Wash, how long until we reach Eden?”

 

“Usually five days, but I can get us there in three if we watch the temperature of the fuel cells, then we make our regular route.”

 

“Great. Three days it is. Zoe, take Jayne’s guns if he tries to shoot our cargo, I myself am finding something to drink, and I will shoot whoever tries to stop me. Everyone either get to beds or to your posts, I don’t much care which.”

 

Simon was nearly shaking as he led the man away and up to the infirmary.

 

“I don’t suppose it would matter if I told you that I am perfectly fine?” Their mysterious guest queried.

 

“The Captain said to check you out, so I’m going to check you out.” Simon murmured, too much still in shock to really respond.

 

“Simon-”

 

Simon clenched his eyes closed tight and took a few steadying breaths. “Not now Doctor Morgan, please.”

 

Doctor Morgan nodded sadly. “Very well. Lead on.”

 

Simon’s thoughts were racing, trying to comprehend the impossible. It was an awkward situation all around. Doctor Henry Morgan had been one of his teachers on Ariel, one of his favorite professors, and had also been the only one he had confided in about River and his worries for her, the only one to believe him. He had even been the one to provide him with the information and the contact on who could help get River out of The Academy. What on earth was he doing here?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you enjoyed please leave a review! Reviews are life, I cherish all of them no matter how long or short they are, and they really do help me write more.


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